Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH signed an agreement to acquire Motorflug Baden-Baden GmbH. Motorflug, with bases in Baden-Baden, Rheinmünster, and Schönhagen near Berlin, will become part of Eurocopter’s service and support business and will complement Eurocopter’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul capabilities in the civil helicopter market.

After several years of working closely with the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps, GE-Aviation has been awarded $1.4 million in initial funding to perform nonrecurring engineering work associated with the integration of an engine upgrade into the AH-1Z helicopter.

The European Space Agency (ESA) awarded a 263 million contract to EADS’s Astrium unit to develop and build the EarthCARE Earth observation satellite. EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) will focus on clouds, tiny particles in the atmosphere—aerosols—and their influence on atmospheric radiation.

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) and MTU Aero Engines GmbH signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly pursue business opportunities in the European UAV market. Under the five-year agreement, P&WC and MTU will cooperate in positioning themselves for participation in future European UAV programs.

Rolls-Royce established a joint venture company with GKN Aerospace to carry out research and development into the use of composite materials in aero engine fan blades. Funding for the research and development is expected to be approximately £11 million.

Honeywell Aerospace has agreed to sell its Consumables Solutions business to B/E Aerospace for $1.05 billion, consisting of at least $800 million in cash and the remainder in shares of B/E common stock.

General Dynamics C4 Systems, an integrator of secure communication and information systems and technology, is scheduled to open a new engineering design center in Broward County, FL, this month. The office will expand the company’s engineering and technology support of U.S.

The Advanced Turbine Engine Co. LLC, a Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney joint venture, was awarded a $108 million contract by the U.S. Army for the Advanced Affordable Turbine Engine (AATE) technology demonstrator program.

BAE Systems has begun construction of its Pacific Innovation Center at the First Hawaiian Bank building in downtown Honolulu. The company will use the facility to demonstrate the systems and software solutions it develops in Honolulu and across its expanding defense and aerospace electronics business.

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center awarded a contract to Hensel Phelps of Orlando, FL, for the construction of the Ares I mobile launcher for the Constellation Program. Ares I is the rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew, and cargo to low earth orbit.

Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force to design, engineer, and construct a new fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft component repair facility at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, GA.

AgustaWestland has opened a new regional business headquarters office in Turkey. Through its new regional business headquarters, AgustaWestland will also manage the Tactical Reconnaissance and Attack Helicopter (ATAK) program.

Pratt & Whitney selected Goodrich Corp. to be the exclusive provider of the complete nacelle systems for its new Geared Turbofan engine for both the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and the Bombardier CSeries aircraft families.

The U.S. DOD awarded a contract to Orbital Sciences Corp. as part of its Theoretical Studies and Engineering Services (TSER) program for suborbital launch vehicle research and engineering. Orbital will serve as a prime contractor to support U.S.

Raytheon Co. has teamed with Swift Engineering Inc. to provide the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps with an unmanned aircraft system for their respective Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Tier 2 missions.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Boeing a $3.8 million contract for Phase 1 of the Vulture air vehicle program. The Vulture program calls for developing technologies and ultimately a vehicle that can deliver and maintain an airborne payload on station for an uninterrupted period of more than five years using a fixed-wing aircraft.

Spirit AeroSystems will participate in a joint-venture partnership between several major aviation companies to develop and implement a composite and metal bond component repair station in the Asia-Pacific region.